Momentum-Control Scavenge-less Jumping Development

Abstract

A new toner-based electrographic development process is presented, which we call “Momentum-Control Scavenge-less Jumping Development” (MC-SJD). It is similar to conventional jumping development in that an AC waveform is used to drive charged toner particles across a small gap from a toned donor roll towards a photoreceptor with a latent electrostatic image. Rather than allowing toner particles to impact the photoreceptor and potentially damage any existing toned image, a four-phase waveform is used to reduce the normal component of the toner's momentum prior to its impact with the photoreceptor. The toner thus forms a nearly static cloud of charged particles near the latent image, which then gently develops onto the photoreceptor. The MC-SJD process is equally applicable to both single and dual-component development subsystems. This approach is particularly useful for image-on-image color printing architectures, but may also help improve the image quality of monochrome and conventional color prints.